Analysis of The Question
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
Beside us in our seeking after pleasures,
Through all our restless striving after fame,
Thorough all our search for worldly gains and treasures
There walketh one whom no man likes to name.
Silent he follows, veiled of form and feature,
Indifferent if we sorrow or rejoice,
Yet that day comes when every living creature
Must look upon his face and hear his voice.
When that day comes to you, and Death, unmasking,
Shall bar your path, and say, “Behold the end, ”
What are the questions that he will be asking
About your past? Have you considered, friend?
I think he will not chide you for your sinning,
Nor for your creeds or dogmas will he care;
He will but ask, “From your life’s first beginning
How many burdens have you helped to bear? ”
Scheme | ABABCDCD EFEFEGEG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 011010101010 11101010101 1011011101010 111111111 10110111010 0101110101 111111001010 1101110111 111111011 1111010101 11010111110 0111110101 11111111110 111111111 11111111010 1101011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 759 |
Words | 137 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 291 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 68 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 41 sec read
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"The Question" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10888/the-question>.
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